THE alarm bells really were ringing round Prenton Park at the close of play.

THE alarm bells really were ringing round Prenton Park at the close of play.

The fire brigade's presence could be put down to a false alarm, but the quality of the football still left the supporters with much to be concerned about.

Cup fever has clearly taken its toll on Tranmere's league health. Saturday saw their fourth successive Nationwide defeat and Brian Little's first loss at home.

After working so hard to turn a one-goal deficit into a 2-1 lead in a much-improved second half, his team threw it away thanks to an error-ridden display that followed on from the midweek defeat at Brighton.

It had all started so promisingly. Slick inter-play between Eugene Dadi and Iain Hume carved the visitors apart inside the first 60 seconds, but the Canadian whizz kid was denied a goal by keeper Carl Muggleton's outstretched leg.

But from there the home side's play gradually degenerated into an uninspiring and all too often sloppy affair. The Millwall lions will rip them apart if they repeat their first-half performance in tomorrow night's quarterfinal replay.

Lax defending was punished midway through the opening half on Saturday by their more adventurous opponents.

Alan O'Hare's free-kick was allowed to reach centre-half Ian Evatt raiding beyond the far post. His square ball found Glyn Hurst unmarked in front of goal, and he tapped home from all of a yard.

After five successive away games, the chorus of boos that greeted the half-time whistle was hardly the welcome home the Tranmere players had been hoping for.

Little shook things up after the break with a switch to 4-4-2.

It had rescued a draw at Chesterfield earlier in the season and for a while it looked to be working here. A double substitution also helped, David Beresford replacing Dadi and Shane Nicholson coming on for Paul Linwood.

Beresford, a natural right footer, looked more comfortable operating down the right wing instead of the more usual left flank, while Nicholson slotted into the left-back role, allowing Gareth Roberts to push on into midfield.

It took a while for Rovers to get into their stride and they were fortunate to see former team-mate Marvin Robinson's header come back off the crossbar, but eventually they clicked - at least as an attacking force.

Gary Jones, now playing up front in place of Dadi, capitalised on right-back Gus Uhlenbeek's hesitancy, drew the keeper off his line then squared for Hume to slot into the unguarded net to level just after the hour mark.

Hume put his side in a commanding position with his 10th goal of the season a short time later. His cross-field run ended with him releasing Roberts down the left. The Canadian then sprinted onto the superb return ball to slot home from close range.

That should have been game over and a very welcome three points in the bag, but it has been so long since they have played regular 4-4-2 football that Rovers appear to have forgotten how to defend in this formation.

A dreadful mix-up between Graham Allen and Jones saw the latter put into his own net to gift Chesterfield an equaliser with seven minutes remaining.

Then came the sucker punch. Chris Brandon was allowed too much space to reach the byline and he lofted a cross to the back post, where Hurst rose unchallenged to claim his second of the match.

A late cavalry charge saw Jones head inches over, but Rovers only had themselves to blame for this loss. Sloppy play has seen them pick up just one point from the last 15.

Recent defeats at the likes of Brighton and Swindon can be partly put down to the high quality of the opposition, but teams from the bottom end of the table, such as Chester-field, should be comfortably rolled over at Prenton Park. Worryingly, in the remainder of this season's fixtures Tranmere still have to face four sides fighting against relegation.

Fantastic though it has been, Rovers have allowed the FA Cup run to deflect attention away from their increasingly precarious league position. Now hanging just five points above the relegation zone, the alarm bells should be ringing loud and long.